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Kickball Terms

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How to play kickball

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The importance of stretching before doing physical activity

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A balanced exercise routine includes

aerobicactivity, strength training, and stretching. Stretching not only feels good, but may help prevent muscle injuries.

Warming Up

It's important to warm up your body before any physical activity. Warming up for about 5-10 minutes goes a long way toward preparing the body for exercise.

Warming up:

increases your heart rate and respiratory rate

increases muscle temperature

boosts the amount of blood and oxygen delivered to your muscles

prepares the body for a workout

A warm-up can even be the activity you are about to do but at a slower pace. For example, if you're about to go for a run, warm up with walking or a light jog. If you're going to go for a swim, do a couple of slow warm-up laps. If you play a sport, focus on the muscles that are used for your particular sport. For instance, if you play baseball, you might warm up your shoulder with light throwing.

Dynamic stretching uses many muscle groups in a sport specific manner and can be part of your warm-up. Besides warming up the muscles that will be used in the activity, dynamic stretching allows for full range of motion of the joints.

Stretching the Right Way

Stretching used to be considered the main activity before a workout. But traditional, or "static," stretching may lead to decreased muscle strength and performance, especially if your muscles are not warmed up enough. Stretching cold muscles can lead to injury.

To get the most out of warming up and stretching, try dynamic stretches before and static stretching after a workout.

Stretching properly may reduce muscle injuries and improve athletic performance. It also increases:

flexibility

joint range and motion

blood flow to muscles

Here are some tips on how to stretch properly:

Stop if it hurts. Stretching should never hurt. If you have reached a point in your stretch where it hurts, pull back to where you still feel a stretch but can hold the stretch comfortably.

Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds. Holding a stretch for any less won't sufficiently lengthen the muscle. Holding a stretch too long may overstretch muscles. Overstretching may cause injury and decrease performance. Stretch the muscles slowly and don't force it.

Don't bounce. Bouncing while stretching may injure the muscle you're stretching.

Remember to breathe. Don't hold your breath when you stretch. Inhale slowly and relax into the stretch as you breathe out.

Stretch both sides. You may be more flexible on one side, but try to do equal stretching on both sides. Big differences in flexibility may lead to injury.

Stretch regularly. To maintain flexibility, stretch at least 3 days a week.

Cooling Down

You need to slow down your body after a workout or exercise. Do 5-10 minutes of gentle movement and stretching to help your body recover from a workout.

Your cool-down routine should include gentle movement and stretching. Cooling down and stretching at the end of a workout helps you to:

slow your heart rate and breathing

reduce the chance of feeling dizzy or lightheaded

relax and feel the benefits of your workout

Whether you're new to working out or a lifelong athlete, be sure to include a good before-and-after routine for better performance and recovery.

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You may have heard mixed things about stretching before working out. Here are the cold, hard facts on warming up, stretching, and cooling down.

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An example of Dynamic stretches that are effective before doing physical activity.

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Balance Physical Therapy & Human Performance Centr

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An example of Offensive Strategies in kickball

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Earlier this season we explored ways to dominate the outfield, but that is only half the game! Today we are going to outline some strategies for the offense and how to maximize the potential of your runs and kicking line up.

1. Optimize your kicking order
Every player has a spot in the kicking order and depending on their individual strengths, will have an optimal place to maximize your offensive impact. The leadoff kicker should be one of your best and fastest kickers. Their goal is to get on base however they can. The 2nd and 3rd kickers should be reliable and consistent kickers as their job is to move up the previous kickers and make it on base (usually with a strong, low kick). Cleanup coming in 4th should be your most powerful kicker. You want someone who can kick the ball far and hard (think hard to catch) to help bring around the other players and the first runs of the game. 5-8th kickers should be your players who are not as confident in kicking but may get singles or fast runners to get on base. Then run through the rest of the roster and remember to keep your male / female ratios in mind when setting up the order.

2. Know when to hold back
As with placement in the lineup, each type of kick has its time and place. It is not always the best plan of attack to try and kick the ball as hard as you can, especially if that is not your individual skill. If there are 0-1 players on base and neither on third, it is a better idea to try and kick it low and hard to get a base hit and advance your runners. Save the big power kicks for when you have a player in scoring position to give them the time to run home. Don't forget the power of a sacrifice fly as well, sometimes it is all you need to get that player home and tie up the game!

3. Run Smart
As a base runner, your best plan of action is to be aware of the play. Know how many outs you have and what position in the lineup you are in to optimize your running. If you are on second or third and no one right behind you, you do not have to run. If the ball is coming at you or towards the base you would be running to and it is not a forced play, hold up and wait until the next play to lessen the chances of being thrown out. If the kick is popped up, keep that toe on the base and wait until the catch to see if you have time to advance bases. Just remember, if there are 2 outs, run on contact no matter what as you either advance / score or the play is called out and the inning is over, you have nothing to lose!

Now that you are armed with both offensive and defensive strategies, you are ready to go out and play your best game ever. But as always, be sure to have fun first!

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Kickball Strategies - Maximize Your Offensive Potential

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Earlier this season we explored ways to dominate the outfield, but that is only half the game! Today we are going to outline some strategies for the offense and how to maximize the potential of your runs and kicking line up. 1.

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An example of Defensive Strategies in kickball

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While Kickball is arguably one of the most fun, laid back sports we offer, it is still a sport! With any sport comes strategy and potential to improve. There are ways to strategize both offensively and defensively to maximize your game. Today, we will be laying out some outfield strategies and defensive tips.

So many plays are missed because the outfield wasn't sure where to throw the ball once they tracked it down. Before every new kicker, the outfield should take a look around and look for any players on base. It may be a good idea to designate a player in the field to call out plays before each kicker / play. For example if kicker #3 is coming up to the plate, kicker #1 struck out, and kicker #2 is on first base, the defensive player could call out "1 out, plays to first then second".
This lets the team know that if they get the ball, they should get it to either first or second base to get the next out based on where the kickers can get to. Letting the team know how many outs the team has also helps to clarify where they are in the inning and keeps everyone on the same page.

Another key to mastering the outfield is proper positioning. While the infield is pretty set with 1 player on each base and a short-stop between 2 nd and 3 rd, the outfield can be a bit more flexible. One thing you want to look for is right vs. left footed kickers. The majority of players will be right footed so you want to have your outfield shifted to the left, some players may use their left foot. In those cases, you may want to shift the outfield to the right as the ball will have more of a tendency to carry that way. If you don't shift, they could find holes in the outfield.
Another thing to watch for throughout the game is the big kickers or players who tend to kick lower balls. While always keeping the respect line in mind, if a player up to kick tends to keep the ball lower and along the ground, you may want to pinch in a bit to cut it off. Alternatively, if a big-kicker is up to the plate, stay deep as it is much easier to run onto a ball as it is coming in rather than chasing it down if it drops behind you.

Stop / make a play as quickly as possible

Once the ball is kicked, the play is live until the ball is returned to the pitcher. Once the ball is caught / tracked down, the play should be made as quickly as possible or stopped to prevent extra scoring. One of the biggest mistakes we see is a player in the outfield who picked up the ball and is holding onto it looking for a play. The kicker can continue to run or even score until the ball is to the pitcher. Referring to tip #1 and communicating with your team, help the player with the ball by calling out where they can throw it or providing a cut-off catcher if it is deep in the outfield. If the runner has made it to a base and there is no play to make, be sure to get it in to the pitcher to hold them on base and try your hand at the next one!

Hopefully these tips will help improve your defensive game and hold games within a couple of runs. But as always, be sure to have fun first!

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Kickball Strategies - How to Dominate the Outfield

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While Kickball is arguably one of the most fun, laid back sports we offer, it is still a sport! With any sport comes strategy and potential to improve. There are ways to strategize both offensively and defensively to maximize your game. Today, we will be laying out some outfield strategies and defensive tips.